European elections – the Southend-on-Sea result

I attended the European count in Southend-on-Sea tonight, and here is the result:

UKIP

15967

36.8%

Conservative

11523

26.6%

Labour

6711

15.5%

Green

3387

7.8%

Liberal Democrats

2645

6.1%

An Independence From Europe

1073

2.5%

English Democrats

704

1.6%

BNP

457

1.1%

Christian Peoples Alliance

375

0.9%

No2EU

191

0.4%

spoilt

337

0.8%

A good night for UKIP and a poor one for the Conservatives. Labour did pretty well, as did the Greens who relegated the Liberal Democrats to fifth spot.

A lot of spoilt papers, most of which were entirely blank. This, I believe, was because some voters only wanted to vote in the local elections yet were told they had to take a European ballot paper as well.

Like this:

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4 Responses to European elections – the Southend-on-Sea result

The national picture is depressing. There needs to be enormous work across Europe to prevent the rise of fascist tendencies. Those who didn’t vote need to be reminded of the dangers of apathy. Those who did, that their belief that UKIP will represent their interests is misplaced and Young Socialusts need to be very busy. Labour
perhaps pledging not to sell graduate loans to debt collectors. Promoting EMA without conditional education programmes. Enhancing apprenticeships and stop admiring other education systems where positive child based pedagogy is rejected for exam success. Thatcher didn’t just snatch the milk, she changed a generation to reject solidarity as passé and sold individuality- they need to read ‘ Love on the dole’ and see ‘Boys from the Blackstuff’. In the words of Bleasedale’s Yosser, ‘ Fight back you bastards’!

Labour did pretty well (15.5%)
Oh how the mighty are fallen when less than 1 in 6 vote for you and you believe you did “pretty well”! Where did the vote go for the party that believes it is either the principal party of government or the party challenging for that position?

UKIP appears to be addressing problems faced by the disenfranchised working class. The relative “newness” of UKIP’s appeal to the working class offers a new opportunity to the disenchanted Labour voter. If (somehow!) you can ignore the fact that Farage is as much a toff as many Tories, there is no class betrayal in voting UKIP (It’s not as if you are voting Tory or Liberal!). This is dangerous as it can undermine Labour’s “tribal vote” – in the same way as UKIP has used anti-EU sentiment to undermine the Tory “tribal vote”.

Because it is recognised that UKIP policies on the EU and immigration are similar to the desires of many Conservatives, there is a thought that Conservatives “jumping the broom” and voting UKIP have not emotionally left the Conservatives and may therefore tend to drift back to the Conservatives come the General Election. The same cannot be said for Labour. The policy overlap is minimal and there might therefore be an increased danger that Labour votes have not so much been lent to UKIP, but they have left for good.

An additional factor that may play with previously Labour supporters is the awareness that since the last election, Labour has failed to implement any policies – because they have been out of power, but UKIP appears to have seen a lot of movement on their policies – because the Tories have danced to UKIP’s tune. So does voting UKIP bring results – unlike voting Labour?

Given that even EU-enthusiasts believe that the scope of Brussels should not be expanded further, I would not want MEPs to:
– advocate not selling graduate loans to debt collectors
– Promoting EMA without conditional education programmes
– Enhancing apprenticeships
That is what I elect Westminster MPs to do.

Given that none of the candidates on offer to me (correction: none of the parties on offer to me) where making any significant EU-parliament relevant proposals, why should I be expected to vote blindly or tribally?

outsidethemarginals: Context is everything – that 15.5% in Southend-on-Sea compares to 19% in the local elections on the same day. South east Essex does not represent an area with rich pickings for Labour.

Once the marked registers are available I will be interested to see who actually voted. I suspect that we will find a number who do not usually vote – and UKIP’s working class support might well come from this group.